The last meal of last year:
giant potato pancake
The final dinner of 2023 was a giant potato pancake with lox, sour cream, and chives. HNY!!!!
This of course was just one of many snacks I prepared while John and I spent New Year’s Eve with my family in Florida. Other snacks included: chicken wings, shrimp cocktail, chicken liver mousse, various christmas leftovers, and a charcuterie plate only with the things you actually want to eat (salami, cucumbers, and boursin). And this pancake!
This pancake was a classic Dad/Laura alley oop, in which my dad gives me a cooking prompt and I execute it. I’ll usually grumble about having an assignment, but I’ll always be glad I made something I wouldn’t have otherwise. This in particular turned out to be a good one.
Not that anyone asked, but my December, as per usual, was chaos. I was testing recipes for 2 different cookbooks, on top of a few shoots, Christmas present-ing, getting a cold, a stomach flu, and then traveling down the east coast. So this is a glimpse of what just 4 days looked like. The rest of my phone is more pics of food and other people’s cats.
I didn’t take any process pictures of the potato pancake, but I just grated 3 potatoes, rinsed and dumped out the starch a few times, mixed in 1 egg, some flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cook half of that in a pan over medium high and lift it to peek at the color occasionally, procrastinate flipping it, and then burn yourself when you flip by turning it onto a wire rack over the sink and dripping hot oil down your wrist while John looks on, stressed and useless, all under the guise of “helping.”
Speaking of John, did you guys know he was an accountant in 5th grade?
2024 is off to an incredible start. My sisters, dad, and family friend opened a restaurant and I basically cry every day reading the incessant, glowing 5-star reviews.
If you’re thinking “wow what incredible food styling, that master of her craft is very talented and I bet she has nice hair” you can hire this beautiful wizard for your business or cookbook or national ad campaign at any time.
Other good things that have happened so far include deep and honest purging of unused/unloved things from our apartment, seeing a lot of great movies in the theater which I love doing so much, and also this really amazing tuna sandwich I made last Wednesday.
I looked through my photos just now to decide on a Tangible Thing to showcase, and it was a tie between these birds that I captured at a lovely sunset moment…
Or my friend Marysia, loyal supporter of Laura’s Dinner, and her beautiful balaclava.
Now seems like the perfect time to try out this poll feature which I assume people won’t engage with. Prove me wrong!
The young folks call that green thing a shiesty (pre-TikTok deletion knowledge).